Indiana HOA fine rules

The Indiana Homeowners Associations Act contains no provision requiring notice before a homeowners association imposes a fine. Article 32-25.5 is made up of chapter 1 (applicability), chapter 2 (definitions), chapter 3 (homeowners associations), chapter 3.4 (regulation of amateur radio antennas), chapter 3.5 (restrictions on solar energy systems), chapter 3.7 (regulation of beekeeping), chapter 3.9 (regulation of property used to provide child care), chapter 4 (attorney general actions) and chapter 5 (grievance resolution) — chapters 3.4 and 3.9 having been added by P.L. 53-2026 effective July 1, 2026 — and none of them creates a fine, a notice before a fine, a cure period, a hearing or a cap. The notice requirements the article does impose run to other subjects: budget material before the budget meeting (Ind. Code § 32-25.5-3-3(c)), and a notice of claim that a party must serve before starting litigation. Under § 32-25.5-5-10, "A claimant must provide notice of the claim to the respondent, stating plainly and concisely the following information: (1) The nature of the claim, including the date, time, location, persons involved, and the respondent's role in the claim. (2) The basis of the claim, including the provision of the governing documents or other authority out of which the claim arises. (3) What the claimant wants the respondent to do or not to do to resolve the claim. (4) That the respondent has a right to meet with the claimant, if the respondent makes a written request for a meeting. (5) The name and address of the person from whom the respondent must request a meeting under subdivision (4)." That notice is a precondition to legal proceedings, not to a fine: "A claimant may not initiate a legal proceeding seeking redress or resolution of a claim until the claimant has complied with the procedures described in this chapter" (§ 32-25.5-5-9). Any notice an Indiana association must give before levying a fine therefore comes from the recorded declaration, covenants, bylaws and rules.

The Indiana Homeowners Associations Act fixes no cure period before a fine. The fixed day counts in the article's dispute provisions run to the pre-litigation grievance process instead: a meeting is required only "if a respondent has requested a meeting under section 10 of this chapter not later than ten (10) business days after the date of the notice of the claim given under section 10 of this chapter" (Ind. Code § 32-25.5-5-11(a)), and after an impasse "Either party may, not later than ten (10) days after an impasse is reached, request in writing to the other party that the other party submit the claim to mediation or binding arbitration" (§ 32-25.5-5-12(b)). Neither is an opportunity to cure a violation before a fine is levied. Any cure period available to an Indiana homeowner comes from the recorded declaration, covenants, bylaws and rules.

The Indiana Homeowners Associations Act sets no limit on the amount of a fine. No chapter of Ind. Code art. 32-25.5 — chapter 1 (applicability), chapter 2 (definitions), chapter 3 (homeowners associations), chapter 3.4 (regulation of amateur radio antennas), chapter 3.5 (restrictions on solar energy systems), chapter 3.7 (regulation of beekeeping), chapter 3.9 (regulation of property used to provide child care), chapter 4 (attorney general actions) or chapter 5 (grievance resolution) — states a maximum fine, a maximum daily amount, or a reasonableness standard against which a fine could be measured. The dollar limits the article does impose are limits on records fees rather than on fines: a homeowners association "may not charge a fee for the first hour required to search for a record in response to a written request submitted under this chapter," any hourly fee charged beyond that hour "does not exceed thirty-five dollars ($35) per hour," and "The total amount of the fee charged by the homeowners association for a search may not exceed two hundred dollars ($200)" (Ind. Code § 32-25.5-3-3(m)). P.L. 53-2026 (House Enrolled Act 1152), effective July 1, 2026, added a further fee bar at § 32-25.5-3-3(n), and it assumes rather than limits the power to fine: it bars charges for association services "other than the homeowners association dues or fines expressly identified in the homeowners association's governing documents" and provides that the subsection "does not affect the ability of a homeowners association to take debt collection efforts for dues or fines allowable under the homeowners association's governing documents." The budget ceilings the same act added at §§ 32-25.5-3-3.1 through 32-25.5-3-3.3 cap what a board may adopt as an annual budget without a quorum, not what it may fine. Any cap on the amount an Indiana association may fine therefore comes from the recorded declaration, covenants, bylaws and rules.

Indiana gives homeowners association members a statutory inspection right, and by Ind. Code § 32-25.5-1-1(b)(1) subsections (g) through (m) of § 32-25.5-3-3 apply to all homeowners associations whether or not the association is otherwise governed by the article. "Subject to subsection (k): (1) the financial records, including all contracts, invoices, bills, receipts, and bank records, of a homeowners association must be available for inspection by each member of the homeowners association upon written request; and (2) the minutes of meetings of the homeowners association board, including the annual meeting, must be available to a member of the homeowners association for inspection upon the homeowners association member's request, which may be submitted: (A) in person; (B) in writing; or (C) by electronic mail." The same subsection also gives members a right to be present: "In addition to the right to inspect the meeting minutes of the homeowners association board, a member of a homeowners association has the right to attend any meeting of the homeowners association board, including an annual meeting of the board. However, the board of directors may meet in private to discuss delinquent assessments. The board of directors may also meet in private with legal counsel to discuss the initiation of litigation, or to discuss litigation that either is pending or has been threatened specifically in writing. As used in this subsection, 'litigation' includes any judicial action or administrative law proceeding under state or federal law" (§ 32-25.5-3-3(g)). It then adds that "A written request for inspection must identify with reasonable particularity the information being requested. A member's ability to inspect records under this section shall not be unreasonably denied or conditioned upon provision of an appropriate purpose for the request. The homeowners association may not charge a reasonable fee for the copying of a record requested under this subsection if the homeowners association member requests a written copy of the record" (§ 32-25.5-3-3(g)). The word "not" in that last sentence was inserted by P.L. 53-2026 (House Enrolled Act 1152), effective July 1, 2026; before that date the sentence read "The homeowners association may charge a reasonable fee for the copying of a record requested under this subsection," so an Indiana association may no longer charge for copying a record it must make available. Where there is a dispute, "if there is a dispute between a homeowner and a homeowners association, the officers of the homeowners association must make all communications concerning the dispute available to the homeowner" (§ 32-25.5-3-3(h)), and "A homeowners association shall make all communications and information concerning a lot available to the owner of the lot or a home on the lot" (§ 32-25.5-3-3(i)(1)). Exceptions cover attorney communications and work product prepared in anticipation of litigation (§ 32-25.5-3-3(j)) and, under § 32-25.5-3-3(k), unexecuted contracts, records regarding contract negotiations, another member's account information, information whose release is prohibited by law, "Any records that were created more than two (2) years before the request," and member-supplied information about another member concerning suspected criminal activity. Subsection (k) also carries a retention duty that runs the other way: "a homeowners association or a member of the board of a homeowners association shall retain for at least two (2) years after receipt, and during that period shall make available to a member of the homeowners association at the member's request, any written or electronic communication received by the homeowners association or board member that relates to a financial transaction of the homeowners association and that is not otherwise excepted from disclosure under this article or other applicable law." Search fees are limited: "A homeowners association may not charge a fee for the first hour required to search for a record in response to a written request submitted under this chapter," and any hourly fee charged beyond that "does not exceed thirty-five dollars ($35) per hour," must be charged "only for time that the person making the search actually spends in searching for the record," must be prorated for searches under an hour, and "The total amount of the fee charged by the homeowners association for a search may not exceed two hundred dollars ($200)" (§ 32-25.5-3-3(m)). A separate fee bar was added by P.L. 53-2026 (House Enrolled Act 1152), effective July 1, 2026: "Notwithstanding any other law, a homeowners association, an agent of a homeowners association, or a homeowners association management company may not charge a homeowner a fee associated with any service provided by the homeowners association, other than the homeowners association dues or fines expressly identified in the homeowners association's governing documents. This subsection does not affect the ability of a homeowners association to take debt collection efforts for dues or fines allowable under the homeowners association's governing documents" (§ 32-25.5-3-3(n)). P.L. 53-2026 did not amend § 32-25.5-1-1, so the universal-applicability list in § 32-25.5-1-1(b)(1) still reads "IC 32-25.5-3-3 (g) through IC 32-25.5-3-3 (m)" and the new subsection (n) reaches only associations otherwise governed by the article.